The New Girl
by E.E. Smith
Summary: Rewrite of 'New Girl in the Office' on my old account. Andy is engaged to Angela and they are totally not meant to be together, Andy meets Virginia and they totally are. (Simplistic summaries are the best, right?) Andy/OC (Rating my increase).
1. Welcome to Dunder Mifflin

**Here it is, as promised, the new version of 'New Girl in the Office' I really hope you like it. **

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_**The New Girl**_

_**Chapter One: Welcome to Dunder Mifflin**_

The sound of the metal tickling on the ceramic cup seemed to cut into the dense morning air, as a half asleep Virginia stirred her coffee with a wide yawn, one hand on the counter as she propped herself up. She heard the click of her dog's claws on the wooden floor.

"Morning Newton." She said softly, and picked up her mug, before crouching down to scratch the ginger Lakeland terrier behind his ear. She headed into her adjoining living room and sat herself on the couch, turning on the television and hoping the morning news would bring her back to Earth, while she sipped her coffee and tapped her fingers. Nothing interesting was on. Something about a library restoration, a successful organ transplant, something about a woman that had taught a mouse how to water-ski. She rolled her eyes, and sipped her coffee deeply, closing her eyes a little as she focused only on the sweet, milky taste. She snapped back to reality when Newton jumped up on her lap, and his claws dug into her bare legs.

"Damn it, Newton." She sighed, and set her coffee down. The dog looked up at her, and she was mad no longer. "Oh come on, get down then, _some of us_ have to work you lazy lump of fur."

She moved him to one side so that he curled on the couch beside her, a ball of fluffy ginger hair. She smiled fondly and scratched his ears before standing and heading to her bathroom, where she showered, brushed her teeth, and moisturized every inch of her skin. She looked at her face in the bathroom mirror closely, before opening up her arsenal. The black leather makeup box that made her able to go out in public.

Nerves kicked in after the initial zombie-feeling of early morning. Today would be her first day at Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton. She'd only lived in the area a short time since she had broken up with her boyfriend and moved away from their apartment in New York; after living with her parents for a while, she finally decided she needed a change of scenery, and Scranton was just close enough but at the same time far enough away for her.

Virginia had worked in sales before, but working anywhere new was always nerve-wracking: what if they all hated her? What if they were crazy? She let out a long steadying breath as she carefully applied dark pink lipstick to her plump lips, and snapped and pouted until it was even. She purposefully and perfectly ran a line of liquid eyeliner above her lashes. Next she held the mascara close to her eye and blinked the black liquid onto her lashes until they curled upward and were defined.

Blonde curls fell down her shoulders and back, and framed a pale, mostly flawless face save for a small round scar from chicken pox on her nose... and a little red zit on her chin. Her eyes widened.

"Oh shit, no. Not today." She quickly tossed through the makeup box until she found foundation and concealer, and tried her best to cover the unsightly spot. When it looked something like covered, she sighed and shook her head at her reflection. "No time to worry about it now, Larson."

Her work clothes had been ironed and hung up the night before, with her shoes sitting side by side underneath. It looked pretty childish to her now. She pulled on the white blouse first, soft and smelling of fabric conditioner, and after that came a black pencil skirt, pulling it up at the back and relishing the sound of the zip before tucking the blouse into it. Her heels came last, matching her skirt; shining and making her feel as if she were standing on her tiptoes.

She smiled at her reflection, spritzed some perfume on her wrists and throat, and winked encouragingly at herself, before emerging from the bedroom.

Putting down a bowl of food was the last order of business before heading into the sun outside. Scranton seemed to have nicer morning air than where she lived in New York, it was just a little cleaner smelling, especially given it being Spring time.

Her car was a little red second hand Mini Cooper, a gift from her dad, and a good little runner. She loved to drive and listen to music usually, but today her nerves wouldn't have it as she got closer to her destination, tapping her thumbs on the wheel and humming.

By the time she was in the elevator she was anxiously clicking her fingers together, and began quietly singing the Confidence song from Sound of Music. It didn't help.

'_Ping!'_

"Keep it cool, man." She whispered, and made her way to the door with the Dunder Mifflin blinds. The first thing she saw when she went in was a woman with curly hair sitting behind the reception desk, who looked about the same age as her and smiled in a way that helped her relax. She didn't really look round the office as she walked over with her back straight.

"Hello, I'm Virginia, the new saleswoman here, I was interviewed by Jan Levenson for a New York position but I asked if I could switch to a different branch at the last minute." She said, hoping that the woman had some idea who she was.

"Oh right, Michael told me to send you in when you got here." She nodded. "I'm Pam by the way." She held her hand out, and Virginia shook it, thanking her lucky stars that the first person she met seemed nice.

"Virginia," she said before pursing her lips, "but I just told you that... Sorry." She shook her head and let go of Pam's hand, feeling like a dork.

"Hey, don't be nervous," Pam reassured, "Everybody here's really nice... mostly." She laughed a little and Virginia let out a nervous chuckle.

"I can handle crazy."

"Don't speak too soon." Pam joked, and Virginia felt ten times more relaxed.

"Virginia Larson I presume!" The voice behind her made her jump a little and she turned around.

"Yep. Michael Scott, I presume." She smiled a little and held out her hand.

"Hey, we don't do that here. We're a little more relaxed, but you'll learn that." Michael offered his fist to bump, talking in that way that said he was trying to be cool. Virginia actually thought it was quite funny, and tentatively bumped his fist, trying not to laugh. "Everyone! Listen up!" The entire office looked over, looking a little bored, and Virginia felt herself blush at the attention. "This is our new employee... family member... Virginia Larson, she will be working in sales and I want you all to make her feel welcome and treat her like you would me." Michael announced, and there were a few glances between the employees. Most people sent her a little smile though, which was nice.

"Hi." She said awkwardly, raising her hand in a little wave.

What she hadn't noticed, was the attention she was getting from one person in particular. Andy was leaning back on his chair a little further than normal, and was chewing on the end of his pen to the point where the lid was breaking. The new girl was absolutely, undoubtedly gorgeous, and it was the first time in Andy's life he was actually a little surprised by how much he was attracted to someone so quickly; he wondered what it was about her.

Pam showed her to her desk and pointed out people in the office and their names quietly, the two occasionally sharing small laugh before Pam returned to her desk and Virginia started unpacking her bag and setting up pictures and pen pots on her desk. She was sitting across from Meredith, and so right in his line of sight to the right a little. He found himself still looking at her as she nervously looked round the room and crossed her legs.

He was broken out of this reverie with a sharp slap to the arm, care of his fiancé.

"Andy!" Angela hissed, and he looked up at her angry (as usual) expression.

"What?" He asked, as if he didn't know exactly what he had been doing.

"What do you think you're doing?" She put her hands on her hips and seemed to shout even though she was whispering.

"I- I was just doing my work." He weakly defended.

"You were staring at that girl like a lost puppy." She snapped back.

"No I wasn't." He lied very unconvincingly, and she frowned sharply and returned to her desk for a moment, before paging someone and heading out of the office.

Throughout the day, Virginia got more and more comfortable with the people in the office, they introduced themselves to her during breaks, and it was quickly apparent who she would get on with. Pam was obviously the one she got on with the best straight away, Jim, (who Virginia discovered was her boyfriend), also seemed very nice and funny, Dwight's greeting was formal and a little strange, Creed just said, "Nice to see you again, man". Stanley and Phyllis seemed to be eyeing her up as competition a little at first, but Virginia shared her homemade cupcakes at lunch so they as well as Kevin quickly became her friends. Oscar was someone else who seemed quite normal and nice, whereas Angela hadn't said a word to her yet... nor had Andy.

The last place she visited of the day was the annex to sort out formalities with Toby.

"So, yeah, I had asthma as a kid but haven't had it effect me for years. That won't be a problem with anything will it?"

"No, no. Don't worry about it. Usually we don't mention it if it's not been a problem for more than ten years." He made notes on the form.

Virginia looked around a little while he wrote, "Oh my god, is this your daughter?" She noticed one of the framed pictures of the little girl on his desk, and she smiled widely. "What a cutie-pie."

Toby smiled, more happy than Virginia noticed that someone was actually taking any kind of interest in him.

"Yeah, she's four."

"They're so cute when they're that age." She said, "I bet she's a terror at times though." She chuckled.

"Yep, I can't lie." He finished up her paperwork, and slipped it in a folder. "Well, we're all done here."

"Well, it was lovely to meet you Toby, guess I'll see you tomorrow. You _are_ allowed out of the annex right?" She chided, and he chuckled and shook his head.

"I can have some outdoors time."

Virginia laughed and left the office, walking through the empty kitchen to the office she assumed would also be empty. Only one person was left packing away his things, not noticing the folder he was trying to stuff into his bag was caught on the edge of the bag. She couldn't help but find his reddened face a little funny.

"Hey, here." She took it from him and wriggled in the folder, "It was stuck, see?" She smiled up at him, and he felt immediately embarrassed and a little nervous in front of her.

"Uh, thanks, yeah." He shook his head. "Stupid."

"Don't worry about it," She giggled, and he decided it was probably the nicest sound in the world, "You're Andy, right?"

"Yeah, you're Virginia. Sorry I didn't come over today I just didn't want to swamp you with introductions." He said, although of course the real reason was that Angela hadn't taken her eyes off him all day and not for a good reason.

"It's fine. It was a little daunting meeting everyone but you all seem pretty normal." She chuckled, glancing down at her shoes.

"Have you met Dwight?" He raised an eyebrow and she laughed a proper laugh that reached her eyes and made her look so much more pretty than he ought to have noticed.

"I'm not commenting on that just yet." Her eyebrow playfully quirked. "It was nice meeting you, see you tomorrow." She picked up her own bag from her desk and gave him one last smile before leaving the office. He watched after her, not quite realizing how much trouble he was getting himself into, and she got into the elevator, thinking about how cute Andy Bernard was.

Virginia was certainly glad to kick off her shoes that night and curl up on the sofa with her dog and a bowl of minestrone soup; her first day had been better than she had thought it was going to be, and was heartened by the kindness of most of the people she met. Over the next few weeks she definitely gravitated towards Pam and Jim and a little Oscar, as well as Andy. Occasionally they'd share a mutual laugh or chat a little bit about something mundane like the weather, but she still enjoyed it nonetheless. Andy liked talking to her too, she was the only one that actually laughed at his stupid jokes and he got the feeling that she really wanted to talk to him.

The Thursday of her fourth week, Virginia badly misjudged the time she set off and ended up standing outside the building waiting for someone to come along and unlock the door, looking up at the dark sky and praying it would hold up before she got inside.

"You're early too, huh?"

She felt herself smile a little when she recognized the voice behind her.

"For the first time in my life; you can usually find me about seven minutes late." She tucked her hands in the pockets of her light jacket, discretely looking Andy up and down a little. She had to say, he dressed in a little more preppy fashion than she was used to, but strangely it didn't look too bad on him. He might have not been the snappiest but he was definitely the most colourful dresser in the office.

He laughed, and looked awkwardly at the ground. Virginia hated those long silences between people who don't know each other that well, and decided she wasn't going to let it lie.

"Just hoping the sky doesn't open up on us. Those clouds look a little ominous." She said, but then mentally scolded herself for talking about the weather. "So, how long have you worked at Dunder Mifflin?" She decided to just go for it.

"A few years now, but I've only been here for like a year. Transferred from Stamford."

"Fairfield County, nice. Is that where your family is?" She asked, and Andy wasn't sure if she was just one of those people who was good at pretending she was interested or if she really was. It seemed genuine.

"Uh yeah, but they've been used to not having me around since college," he scratched his ear, "I went to Cornell." He looked a little bit smug. Or rather, he looked a bit like he was trying not to look smug when really he did.

"No way! Me too!" She grinned. He couldn't deny being a little elated.

"Really? What year? I'm '95." He looked genuinely excited.

"A little while after you, old man." She winked. "I majored in English Literature."

"American History. I forgot every bit of it." He joked back and she laughed. "Never studied though, just blagged it all." He shrugged. Virginia laughed a little; apparently he was a bit cocky. "Was drunk like 60% of the time."

"Me and my literature friends used to read Shakespeare and drink mead for whole nights. So not the wildest of parties." She chuckled. "Although you do wake up with the worst headaches and a weird taste in your mouth."

He laughed and Virginia spotted the security guard and Jim and Pam approaching over his shoulder.

"Look, we weren't _too_ early." She nodded to them. "Hi guys."

"Hey, you actually came back. Well done." Jim smiled.

"I thought I'd brave it out. Got sneakers in my bag just in case I need to make a run for it at some point." She grinned.

Once everyone had arrived in the office and Virginia had made a few calls, she realized that she was one of the few doing any real work. Meredith was making no secret of online shopping and occasionally looking up to make dirty jokes to Virginia, everyone seemed to play solitaire at one point before lunch, and she was pretty sure Jim was messing with the back of Dwight's computer. She also worried she was being paranoid, because it seemed that Angela would send her some pretty harsh looks every now and then.

By 11:45 Virginia had made three sales, and decided to wander over to the reception desk to stretch her legs.

"Hey Wham Bam Thank You Pam." She helped herself to a piece of the strawberry flavoured chewy candy in the bowl on the desk.

"I have never had that nickname before." She replied with a confused and amused expression.

"Sorry, I've just hit the motivation wall." She leaned her elbows on the desk. "This candy is so tasty."

"Natural Confectionary, it's super cheap." Pam replied and Virginia made a mental note. "Honestly, the longer you work here the more you'll appreciate the dull days."

"We'll see." Virginia arched an eyebrow.

"Trust me."

Andy had glanced up to see Virginia walk across the office and behind him to reception, and he didn't notice he was still looking at her as she leaned over Pam's desk until around a minute later., he didn't notice her skirt stretch over her backside a little. Of course, he turned his head away and tapped his desk a couple of times, before deciding he should probably try and talk to Angela to hopefully amend some of the guilt he had for how attractive he found Virginia. He walked over to her overly nonchalantly.

"Hello, darling." He rested his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.

"No PDA." She said disapprovingly. Andy was used to her rejecting any amount of affection he offered but it didn't make him feel any less crappy about it.

"Sorry." He smiled awkwardly. "I was just wondering if my lady would like to go dinner after work tonight."

"No. I won't be able to get my car home." She briskly replied, and wrote something down on a spreadsheet.

"Maybe if you would reconsider moving in so we could share a car..." He said quietly and slipped his hands in his pockets, aware Oscar and Kevin were listening.

"I'm not living in sin and your car is too dangerous." She snapped.

"It's a Prius." He frowned.

All he got back was a harsh look as Angela picked up the phone, effectively ending the conversation. Feeling the ever-familiar feeling of dejection and frustration, Andy made his way back to his desk. Virginia was back in her seat and typing away on her computer, she looked up and gave him a bright smile that immediately made him feel a little better.

"Hey, Andy." She whispered, and her turned to face her.

"Feel like being naughty and having lunch three minutes early?" She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned mischievously. He beamed back and cast a nervous glance at Angela, who had her back to them and was on the phone.

"Sure." He eventually replied and she immediately stood and led him quickly to the kitchen, he was surprised by how fast she could walk on the heels she wore.

"I made a tonne of chicken noodle soup at the beginning of the week and I've separated it into like five tubs." She went straight to the fridge. "You wanna try some? It's my own recipe." She said in a singsong voice as she took out a fairly large box and put it in the microwave.

"Hey, I don't wanna be stealing your lunch." He sat down at the table, sort of regretting his denial because it already smelled great.

"Oh you so do. There's way too much and I don't want to brag, but it's super tasty." She took forks from the drawer and dropped them on the table. "Come on Andy Pandy, you'll offend me." She said playfully, leaning on the back of a chair.

His only thought was, 'Jesus, how can someone be so cute?'

"Fine. Chicken noodle soup it is." He tried not to smile as much as he wanted.

On cue, the microwave beeped, and Virginia took the steaming tub of food out with the tips of her fingers.

"No! That looks boiling." Andy leapt up, worried.

She just laughed and set the tub calmly down on the table.

"Chill, my fingers are like asbestos. I worked in a bakery when I was a teenager." She wiggled her fingers illustratively. "See?"

Andy let out a breath and sat back down, feeling a little embarrassed but smiling nonetheless. He looked at her properly while she sat adjacent to him and stirred the steaming tub of chicken noodle soup with her fork. For some reason he was trying to find flaws with her, trying to find something that would make her seem just a little less than perfect. Her front teeth were a little big he guessed, but not really: and it wasn't much of a flaw, it just made her look even cuter. There was no denying she was pretty, anyone could see that, there wasn't anything wrong with noticing she was an attractive woman.

She smiled up at him, she did that a lot, and of course he smiled back.

"Here, try a little." She handed him his fork, and he scooped a little onto the fork while she did the same. Both took a mouthful at the same time, and she closed her eyes to savour the taste.

"Oh my god." He groaned inadvertently. "This is the best tasting thing I have ever eaten, ever."

Virginia laughed heartily, and took another mouthful.

"Thanks, it _is_ pretty nice if I do say so myself."

"_Pretty nice? _You seriously have to make this for me every day." He wasn't humouring her, and she was genuinely glad he enjoyed her food. The two ate together until a significant dent had been made in the thick broth, as people filed in and out having their lunch, the two stayed at the table, and ended up talking about music.

"You play banjo? I love banjo. Well, bluegrass music." She sipped her Coke.

"Really?" He was more than pleasantly surprised.

"I love all music I guess, all genres, and there's crap in every genre."

"Do you play an instrument?" He asked. Andy had stopped checking the time when lunch ended; right now he couldn't believe he was having _this_ conversation with _this_ girl.

"Just harmonica. I don't have the commitment or talent to learn any other instrument." She chuckled.

"Hey no, the harmonica is a great instrument. We should jam sometime." He couldn't keep giddiness out of his voice.

"Totally." She beamed.

The sky opened up over Scranton later that afternoon. Rain hit the windows hard, and the strong wind slightly rattled the windows. The sun of the day before had completely gone, but Virginia didn't mind so much, there was something extremely soothing about the sound of the rain. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked at it for a while, feeling a little lazy. She could see from her seat a tree blow so hard in the wind it looked like it would fall on it's side, and rather than a bright Spring day it was like high winter.

"You like rain too, huh?" She looked up at the sound of the guy's voice. He had black hair and looked about her age if a little younger.

"Oh, yeah," she smiled a little, "it's Ryan, right?"

"Yeah, I'm back in the annex." He nodded to the door. "I sort of work here on a casual basis."

"He's a temp!" Meredith piped up, and Virginia had to fight off a laugh at Ryan's embarrassed expression.

"I used to work at corporate." He went on, leaning on the desk.

"Nice." Virginia humoured.

"Yeah, 'til he got fired." Meredith smirked.

"Meredith, please." Ryan said quietly.

"Fired guy!" Kevin called.

Ryan looked incredibly awkward now, and Virginia felt a little sorry for him as amusing as it was. He gave her a quick, 'talk to you later' before leaving with haste back to the annex. Andy had watched it all unfold, and couldn't deny feeling a little smug that she talked to him longer than Ryan.

At the end of the day, Angela didn't wait for him before leaving to set off in her own car, and he noticed Virginia didn't rush her client off the phone while she twisted on her chair a little, from what he knew about her she didn't seem like the sort of person who would do that.

"Hey!" He whisper shouted to her, she turned to face him, and he waved, she smiled brightly and waved back, mouthing, 'bye.'

He left the office smiling to himself unknowingly, and hopped down the stairs to the car park. The rain was still hammering down and it was a dark for a late Spring evening. Immediately, his hair and jacket were soaked and he jogged to the car, splashing through the puddles that had formed during the day. He noticed Virginia rushing through out of the building with her jacket over her head and fumbling to get out of her keys as he got in his own and started up, immediately firing up the heat.

Virginia dropped her rain soaked jacket on the passenger chair with a shiver and put the keys in the ignition. That horrifying sound of the engine trying and failing to start greeted her, and she let out a load groan. 'Is my life bound to be a cliche?' She thought.

"Shit no," she kept trying, "no no, please," she tried a few more times, "Oh God, you piece of shit." She rattled the steering wheel with frustration and whined, before bailing back out into the rain to pop the hood, as if she knew what it was she needed to do anyway. "What the hell does this _mean_?" She whined, and took her phone out of the pocket of her skirt, trying to hide the screen from the rain. Of course, because it was raining and her car wasn't starting, her cell was also out of battery. "Shit, _why_?" She ran a hand through her increasingly wet hair, and stabbed the on button over and over with her thumb, feeling her skin begin to feel cold as her shirt stuck to her arms and her hair became plastered on her back.

"Hey! Virginia!" The sound of Andy's voice behind her was the best thing in the world at that moment. She turned to see his window open, with him leaning across the passenger seat looking sympathetic, "You need a ride?"

She could have cried with happiness.

"Yes! Thank you!" She locked her then useless car and rushed over to the passenger side and jumped in, not needing to be asked twice, immediately relishing the warmth of the central heating. "Thank you so much." She ruffled her wet curls with her fingertips and pulled down the passenger mirror.

"No problem, what's wrong with your car?" He asked, pulling out of the car park, a little bit glad that it had happened, in honesty.

"I have no idea." She wiped away the smudged makeup from under her eyes. "I can't believe this. Second day and this happens." She threw her hands up.

"It'll be fine. You've got insurance, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll just have to get the bus tomorrow." She sniffed, already feeling the cold.

Andy spoke without thinking, "I can take you to work." He said quickly. "Where do you live, by the way?"

"1664 Ash Street, near Shautz Memorial Stadium, but you don't have to do that, honestly, I'm fine getting the bus." She assured, and held her hands in front of the heating vent.

"Please, you live on the way." He shrugged, telling a bit of a lie.

"Well, thank you Andy, that's very sweet." She smiled honestly.

They sat in surprisingly comfortable silence for a little while until Virginia suggested they find something on the radio. She flicked passed talk radio, the traffic, the news, some terrible new pop songs, and eventually found the perfect station. _'Mott the Hoople – Roll Away the Stone.'_

"YES!" She shouted, and he grinned and turned up the volume loud.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He called over the music.

"No matter if fools say we can't win, I know I'll fall in love again, roll away the stone, roll away the stone!" Both sang loudly in unison, Andy surprised by how relaxed she was about it. "So sing - we still got a chance! Baby in love and sweet romance, roll away the stone, roll away the stone." She did dramatic hand movements while singing, and he tapped on the steering wheel. Her singing voice was actually terrible, but was still somehow really nice to listen to. While he sang the chorus, she did the 'sha la la la la's,' and laughed at her own silliness.

"Okay we have to do the talking part, I'm the girl you're the dude!" She said loudly.

"Okay, okay." He said, preparing for the part.

"There's a rockabilly party on Saturday night, are you gonna be there?" He said along with the track in a terrible British accent.

"I got my invite." She replied in the ditzy girl's voice, and giggled.

"Gonna bring your records?"

"Ah! Will do!"

She covered her face and laughed while the song continued, a little embarrassed for the first time.

"We rocked it." He grinned, and turned down the radio for the ads.

"Agreed." She chuckled.

Not soon after, they arrived at Virginia's house, and both felt a little loathe to part, she also felt quite guilty for letting him take her home like a taxi service.

She chewed the inside of her mouth before going for it. "Would you like to come in for a hot chocolate or tea or something?" She asked. Every single part of him wanted to say yes, but going into her house seemed a little... far. Surely Angela would have no objection to him helping out a woman in distress, but if she found out he went into her house she might get the wrong idea. If there was anything he truly didn't want it was to cause _more_ arguments between Angela and him.

"I... I'd better get home." He said regretfully.

"Oh, okay..." She said, hoping she didn't sound as disappointed as she was, she picked up her bag and jacket and opened the door. "Well, I owe you big time, so thank you."

"Don't worry about it, I'll pick you up at 8:30?"

"Cool." She smiled. "Goodnight." She climbed out of the car into the rain, and he watched her rush down the path and into the house, only pulling away when she waved to him from the door and was safely inside. She smiled to herself when she got in and kicked off her wet shoes; usually, the idea of being in need of a man's help like that would embarrass her, but Andy was just so sweet about it, he seemed to be sweet about everything he did.

Andy felt similarly as he made his way back to his own house, thinking about how she was fine singing with him and how much she laughed. Angela didn't have to know he was picking her up in the morning.

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**Hope you liked (full message in chapter 2)! **


	2. A Little Rusty

**_Chapter 2: A Little Rusty_**

Andy was cheerier than usual the next morning as he made his way to Virginia's house, thumbs drumming on the steering wheel as he hummed. Luckily, the rain had let up by the morning, leaving the day fairly sunny if a little chilled. He was only outside a couple of minutes when the door opened and she came out, straightening her bag on her shoulder. She sent him a quick wave, and locked the door behind her, waving through the glass of her front door to someone inside he couldn't see. That felt like a little like a punch in the gut to him. Boyfriend? Fiance? Husband?

She did seem to look especially lovely that morning. She had her long hair loosely pinned up, so some of the blonde strands still fell either side of her cheeks. No one in the office dressed like her, she wasn't too casual or so formal it was drab; she always seemed to wear her blouse sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and tucked it into the pencil skirts she was partial to. Maybe it was just her figure that made her clothes seem more attractive. What a figure it was. He shook his head slightly.

She crossed the yard to the car and slipped in, bringing with her that usual lovely clean smell.

He was noticing things about her too much.

...He tried to stop.

"Newton didn't want me to leave today." She laughed as she pulled on her seatbelt.

"Newton?" He asked confusedly.

"My dog." She grinned at him. "Ooh, by the way I brought my harmonica." She tapped her skirt pocket.

"My banjo's in the trunk." He replied and set off, noticing her giggle at the fact he had his banjo with him.

Andy still couldn't deny feeling very relieved that the only male living in the house was a dog. Conversation flowed easily between the two on the way to work, about Cornell and music mostly, relationships never really came up. Virginia laughed more at his jokes than anyone else, and sometimes when he wasn't trying to be funny, although he didn't much mind when she would chuckle and call him a dork, because she constantly proved that she was one too. It eventually got to her flicking through his iPod and commenting on the songs he had.

"Holy shit, Taylor Swift?" She exclaimed. "Are you _actually_ a thirteen year old girl?" She laughed hysterically.

"I don't know how that got on there..." He said sheepishly.

"Lemme find the Spice Girls on here..." She teased and continued to scroll with a small smirk. He glanced at her nervously, and waited for it. "OH MY GOD YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SPICE GIRLS ON HERE!" She laughed even more now.

"Is this how you treat your new friends? Laughing in my face?" He blushed and smiled at her laughter.

She made her self stop laughing, and pursed her lips, the smile still there.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The next thing he knew, she had pressed play, and the over-cheery pop blasted out of the speakers. She wasted no time in heartily singing along to 'Wannabe.'

By the time Andy pulled into the parking lot, they were chorusing 'slam your body down and a zig-a-zig-ah,' and Virginia sort of wished that they could just drive around a little longer and listen to some more music, she couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed spending time with someone so quickly, if ever. Conversation always seemed forced the first few times hanging out with someone, but it wasn't with Andy... there was just something about him.

"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends," Virginia sang quietly as they entered the office, "make it last forever," she leaned on reception, "friendship never eeeends." Her voice went unpleasantly high.

"It is way too early for that." Pam yawned widely.

"If you wanna be my lover," Virginia continued, "you have got to give."

"Virginia, c'mon."

"Takin' is too easy,"

"It's only just nine."

"That's not the line Pam, it's 'But that's the way it _iiiiis_." Virginia let out a huff and stopped, resting her elbows on the desk.

"You used to be cool Pam." Virginia took one of the fruity sweets from the bowl.

"Spice Girls are cool to you?" Pam raised her eyebrow with a smile, holding her coffee to her nose.

Virginia snorted, "Yes." Pam couldn't help but laugh at this, and Virginia was pleased with herself for cracking her.

"You gonna start work at some point today, Larson?" Jim asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Blocking the view, am I? Don't get jealous just 'cause your girlfriend likes me better." Virginia grinned as she wandered over to her desk. It only occurred to her when she sat down how Andy had rushed to his desk when they arrived and seemed a little sheepish. As much as her brain wanted to dwell on it, she made herself focus on getting to work, and ended up following up on quite a few leads throughout the morning.

"Yes, I know that the bigger companies tend to undercut us price-wise but nothing can beat Dunder Mifflin in terms of customer service and value for the money you spend. As well as guaranteeing you the perks of a big company, I can also guarantee that there will always be someone here to answer the phone whenever you need it." She said in her very best 'saleswoman' voice.

"You make a very good pitch," Mr Herbert replied. "I'll give you a call tomorrow when I get solid the amount of reams we'll need."

"I look forward to doing business with you." She said brightly.

"And you. Goodbye."

"Bye, have a nice day." She grinned widely, and hung up the phone. Usually, it wasn't done for salesman to announce sales to one another, but she was pretty proud of this one.

"Hey Phyllis," She whispered, slightly hopping over. "I just got the Furst's Advertising Company account."

"No kidding, that's a big sale." Phyllis said approvingly. "Congrats."

"Thanks." Virginia beamed, and headed back to her desk, feeling like she'd achieved something pretty good that day. She played a couple of quick cames of Minesweeper for a while, and wondered what the rules actually were. In honesty, she'd been waiting all day for lunch so she could have that jam with Andy in the break room. He had been thinking about it too, and the night before had even practiced a while so he didn't embarrass himself with rusty playing.

At exactly 12 o'clock, Virginia was standing next to him, harmonica in hand, and leaning her bottom on the edge of his desk.

"You ready?" She asked, eyebrow raised. He wasn't sure if she was being that sexy on purpose, if she didn't know she was doing it or if he hadn't had such an attractive girl talking to him in so long that she wasn't even being sexy at all.

"Totally, I'll go get my banjo." He looked genuinely a little excited. "Meet me in the break room." He said quietly, and quickly stood and headed out of the office. Virginia rather giddily headed over to the break room; it had been so long since she'd played music with someone and had almost forgotten how much fun she used to find it at college. She sat on a chair in the break room and blew a few notes on her harmonica, getting herself re-accustomed to playing. If she was being honest, she wasn't even very good at playing the harmonica, but it didn't make it any less fun for her. Andy arrived back when she was playing a simple blues riff, looking a little out of breath from rushing with his banjo on his back.

"'Kay, what do you wanna play first?" He asked, slipping the pick onto his thumb.

"Depends, how good are you?" She challenged, eyebrows raised.

He did a shrug that was trying to be modest but Virginia noticed the small smirk on his face as he pulled the banjo to his front.

"Well, I haven't practiced in a little while..." He said, poising his fingers before breaking into a very complicated and beautifully played riff. Virginia should have known that he would be good, there wasn't much about him she had found wasn't pretty awesome so far. His made it look so easy too, the way his fingers moved swiftly across the strings. She tried not to dwell on that too much.

When he finished, he looked up at her in what he tried to make look casual, but she could see that he clearly knew he was good, and it sort of seemed like he wanted her to give her opinion.

"Holy crap Andy." She beamed, "You're so talented."

"Well I wouldn't say that." He shrugged, with a small grin. "Really? You think so?"

She chuckled, "Yes, you really are. Now, what shall we play? You like bluegrass?"

'You need to stop being so perfect,' Andy thought, before tightening the strings a little.

"Foggy Mountain Breakdown?" She suggested.

"Excellent choice, Ms Larson."

"Why thank you, Mr Bernard."

The two played as many different songs as they could fit into ten minutes, Andy not noticing if they were bothering anyone and Virginia barely caring. He loved the way she wasn't embarrassed about animatedly playing, or singing notes she couldn't reach. Virginia was increasingly surprised by how much she enjoyed his company. Over the short time she had been, there, she'd got the impression that people thought he was kind of... a dick. But she couldn't agree. Andy was great and that was it for her.

At the end of break time, the two were a little tired out and breathlessly high-fived, before begrudgingly returning to their desks, both inexorably pleased that they'd found someone who gave a crap about music. Virginia could swear that Angela was looking at her when she re-entered the room, but decided she must've been imagining it, just like that morning and the day before. She put it from her mind and got back to work.

Work at Dunder Mifflin was different to anywhere else she'd been. In New York, she'd focussed entirely on making sales all day because she didn't have anything to look forward to in between but boring conversations with people she didn't like that much. This place was different, everybody had a different personality, for better for worse, and there always seemed to be _something_ going on behind the scenes.

At lunch, Virginia sat with Oscar, Pam and Jim chatting and trying not to overthink why Andy had just got his lunch from the fridge and taken it to his desk without so much as a 'hi.'

"I like working here and all but it sucks just staying in every evening, I don't know what there is to do in Scranton." Virginia took a long sip of her coffee.

"Usually not much." Jim said simply. Virginia smirked a little. "Pam and I are going to a bar in town tonight where they have some pretty decent bands on now and then, do you wanna come?"

"Nah, I don't want to be a third wheel, I'll cramp your style." She said regretfully.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Pam said encouragingly. "It'd be nice to hang out outside work, and you just said you're bored at home. Or you could invite someone so you don't feel awkward."

Virginia bit her lip a little, "I guess so... I could ask Andy." She fought of a childish little smile. Pam and Jim looked at each other in a way she couldn't place, which was immediately worrying.

"He probably won't be allowed." Pam said, and Jim laughed a little, so did Oscar, shaking his head. Obviously, Virginia didn't get the joke.

Her brow furrowed, "Why wouldn't he be?"

Pam and Jim stopped looking amused, and sent a quick sideways look at one another. Oscar turned serious.

"Wait, do you not know?" Oscar said, brow furrowed.

"Do I not know _what_?" Virginia said, feeling embarrassingly out of the loop.

"Virginia, Andy's engaged to Angela." Pam said softly.

Virginia felt a few things in that moment: upset, hurt, disappointed, embarrassed. But the main emotion striking her in that moment was stupidity. She had been in the office for nearly a month, she'd hung out with Andy, she'd spoken to him at length, and yet she had not picked up on the fact that he was engaged to someone who worked a few feet away from her. The thing she felt most stupid about though was the fact that she had allowed herself to start liking him to the point where she had a little crush.

"Oh," she said quietly, and cleared her throat, "right, sure." She finished her coffee quickly, "he uh... didn't mention that." She messed with the sleeve of her shirt awkwardly, knowing the three looked rather as if they felt sorry for her. "I'm gonna... I'll just be a second." She stood up in a deliberately relaxed manner and headed out of the kitchen.

The embarrassment didn't go away when she got back into the office, but she felt herself get a little mad. It wasn't just her being stupid, it was like Andy had deliberately not mentioned the fact that they were engaged; she began to wonder what he was trying to pull.

And with that thought, she changed course from her desk and headed to his, the picture of calm when actually she was pretty angry inside. Andy looked up at her when she came over, smile in face at first but that quickly faded when he saw her unusually serious expression.

"Hey Andy, can I talk to you a second?" She said quietly, not waiting for an answer before striding to the hallway outside the office. He took a quick glance around before following her hastily, finding her standing outside the elevator doors, arms crossed, and leaning on one foot.

"Is, is something wrong?" He asked worriedly, and shoved his hands in his pockets. He knew well what it would probably be.

She took a breath and licked her lips, softening a bit. "Why didn't you mention being engaged to Angela?" She asked straight.

"I uh... I thought you'd know." He tried, that guilty feeling filling his stomach.

She looked unconvinced, and raised an eyebrow, "Are you really gonna make me feel as dumb for not picking up on it as I already do?"

He looked at her, feeling guiltier then. He hadn't really expected her to be angry or upset, it's not like they'd done anything, or even got close to it, or even thought about it. Well, he hadn't thought about it _much_.

"Look I'm sorry," he said honestly, "I just didn't really find a time to bring it up, and I guess," he looked at the ground then at her, "I didn't want to make you feel weird about us hanging out, 'cause I like hanging out with you."

He made it so very difficult for her to remain annoyed. She should've known he wasn't trying to pull something, he just liked being her friend. "I like hanging out with you too, Andy. But I might have reconsidered the carpool and the jam and stuff if I knew I was potentially making another woman jealous."

"I know." He said, looking up at her. "You're totally right."

She looked at him a second, he seemed genuinely apologetic, and his eyes were too big and blue for her to really stay mad. When she thought about it, she didn't have a real reason to be that angry. He wasn't to know she had a crush on him, he probably didn't have one back and it was her that had read into his niceness. She sighed and shook her head.

"It's fine, we're cool." She said, and put her hand on his arm. "Just don't keep shit from me if we're gonna be friends, yeah?"

"Okay," he replied with a slight relieved smile that she didn't seem too mad anymore.

"Sweet." She replied, with a smile that she hoped didn't look as fake as it was.

Andy returned to his desk feeling a little better but not nearly as good as he thought he would. It was out now, Virginia knew he was engaged to Angela and she wasn't angry at him anymore for not telling her. But he still didn't feel good. He tried not to think about the idea that maybe it was better when she didn't know, because then he could get as close to her as he wanted to. He wasn't even sure how close to her he wanted to get... Maybe it was too close. He watched her sit down at her desk and put her elbows on it, resting her head in her hands for just a few seconds before getting to work. He bit the inside of his mouth.

That crappy feeling didn't leave Virginia's stomach all day and she was extremely glad for her couch that Friday night and the lie-in she promised herself for the next day. She called her parents, ordered food, changed into the most unflattering and comfortable clothes she had and curled into a ball on the couch with Newton in a similar position behind her bent legs. She munched on yet another piece of pizza and stared a little blankly at the comedy show she wasn't really enjoying. After the initial shock of the revelation, the only thought she had that she couldn't shake was 'why Angela?' she actually couldn't think of a single thing they had in common, and she found it tough to think of a nice part of Angela's personality.

Virginia eventually fell asleep on the couch, resigned to the fact that Angela and Andy were going to get married and she had a crush to try and get over.

Returning to work on the Monday was something she hadn't really been looking forward to, and turned out to be for good reason. When she got to her desk, she looked over to see Andy sitting beside Angela, clearly talking about venues for their upcoming wedding. Angela did not look remotely interested or impressed, and that bothered Virginia more than anything else. This continued for the entire week and drove her a little crazy. The only thing she could do was ignore it, and be grateful for the fact that the Friday was Oscar's birthday, and therefore Virginia's first experience of Dunder-Mifflin birthday party.

Honestly, she'd really been looking forward to it.

As she stood in the conference room with a piece of cake and looked at all the decorations around the room, she couldn't help but feel a little confused, and leaned to Pam.

"Do you have a party like this every time it's someone's birthday or is this one special?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

Pam chuckled, "You've got a lot to learn. We have parties for quarter-birthdays." She sipped the soda Phyllis had put out. Virginia laughed and continued breaking the frosting off her cake with her fork. "Uh, are you and Andy okay now?" Pam quietly asked, obviously a little unsure if the subject was touchy.

Virginia glanced over at where he was standing by the table, drink in hand and swaying from foot to foot like he did.

"Yeah, we're fine. I was pretty pissed at him though." She took a bite of the cake. "Was it totally obvious I liked him a little?" She asked self-consciously. Pam didn't have to say anything for Virginia to know the answer, the look on her face said it all. "C'mon man! It wasn't that obvious."

"No! I mean, y'know. You two have a lot in common, you seemed to get on. I could kinda tell." She shrugged, clearly playing it down. Virginia laughed wryly at herself and elbowed Pam.

"So, how are you enjoying your first ever Dunder-Mifflin birthday party?" Michael wandered over. "It's sort of a flight of passage here."

Virginia didn't have the heart to comment on his mistake. "It's good Michael, I'm having a nice time." She assured.

"Eh," he shrugged, "this is kind of lame in comparison to some of the ones we've had before. You'll see better." He walked off casually, obviously still trying to convince her the office was cool. She shook her head at Pam, and finished off her cake.

"Are you just gonna throw that frosting away?" Andy had sauntered up without her seeing. Her first thought was 'oh lord,' but she was determined to be relaxed.

"Yeah I hate frosting." She replied, making a face.

"What?" He replied with genuine shock. "Do you hate rainbows and kittens too?"

"Rainbows, no. Kittens, yes. I _hate_ cats." She was oblivious to the harsh look she got from _someone_ across the room.

He lowered his voice and leaned forward, "Me too."

She couldn't help but giggle a little. "Want my frosting?" She held up her plate, he smiled and took it.

"Yes please." He didn't hesitate in scooping a big wodge of frosting onto his spoon and eating it. He looked childishly grateful and it made her want to pinch his cheeks. It was nice having that comfortable feeling again; she had to admit. They chatted for a little bit, eventually she felt fully relaxed again and started giggling at his jokes.

Oscar came over to where she, Andy, Jim and Pam were standing.

"Hey birthday boy." Virginia said brightly.

"Hey, I was wondering if you guys felt like going down to Poor Richard's tonight? I'm having a few birthday drinks." He said quietly.

"Sure, sounds like fun... Is it a secret?" Virginia replied confusedly.

"I uh... I'm trying not to let Michael hear." He said, looking over. Jim and Pam nodded in understanding.

Virginia's mouth opened a little, "Oscar! That's mean." She said, not meaning to sound so immature.

"I know it _seems_ mean, but you haven't been here very long." Oscar said. "Trust me, it's not worth it."

"I have to agree. Last time everyone went out together he ended up getting a microphone and singing Elton John." Jim said.

"So?" Virginia asked, not seeing what was so bad.

"It wasn't a karaoke bar." Pam said in such a deadpan fashion that Virginia had to try not to giggle.

"Oh God, really?" She said, feeling sorry for Michael still. He obviously didn't mean to do stuff like that. "Poor guy. Okay, I get your point Oscar." She said honestly. "And it _is_ your birthday."

"So you'll come?" He checked.

"Yup. I'll be there." She smiled.

"Me too." Andy hastily added on, glancing down at Virginia. He didn't care much about going if she wasn't.

The rest of the day was spent fairly productively; Virginia managed to get a few leads but decided to wait to follow through the day after. She hadn't been there very long, so felt a little naughty about slacking off and looking at clothes online, but the temptation was there and she justified to herself that she'd earned it. She clicked around on a few different items, making faces of repulsion at some of the shoes and disappointment when she couldn't afford ones she liked. A soft, 'bleep, bloop' disturbed her, as a message popped up on the office messenger she didn't know existed.

**TheNardDog: **_I'm gonna tell on you. _

She swivelled on her chair to look at Andy, who had his eyes fixed intently on the computer screen and was clearly trying not to grin.

**VLarson123: **_Oh yeah? Well if you tell on me I'll tell on you. _

**TheNardDog: **_Tell on me for what? I'm not a slacker. _

**VLarson123: **_I'll tell on you for misusing company property. _

She waited a minute for the reply, and went back to looking at clothes. 'Bleep bloop.'

**TheNardDog:** _Knock knock._

**VLarson123:** _Who's there? _

**TheNardDog:** _Banana._

**VLarson123:** _Banana who? _

**TheNardDog:** _Knock knock._

**VLarson123:** _Who's there? _

**TheNardDog:** _Banana._

**VLarson123:** _Banana who? _

**TheNardDog:** _Knock knock._

**VLarson123:** _Christ, WHO'S THERE?_

**TheNardDog:** _Orange._

**VLarson123:** _Orange who? _

**TheNardDog:** _Orange you glad I didn't say banana?_

Ashamedly, Virginia did smile the tiniest bit at the joke, and almost, _almost_ wanted to laugh, but didn't. Instead she fixed her expression to one of utter seriousness, and turned on her chair to face him. He was snorting to himself behind his computer at the terrible joke he'd got off the internet, and it was hard for Virginia to stay straight.

"I'm disappointed in you, Bernard." She shook her head.

"What? It was funny!" Apparently something else she hadn't noticed before was how nice his teeth were when he smiled like that. She pursed her lips.

"I expect better from you." She shook her head again and turned back around, letting her smile out.

"It was funny!" He called defensively.

* * *

**So, that was the beginning of the rewrite of my story, please review and let me know what you think. I really hope you enjoy because I would very much like to continue. Thank you for reading! (Chapter 3 might be up tonight).**


	3. Party Hardy

**I think the disclaimer here should be I don't the Office and all that; but also this story is going to be unapologetically silly and packed full of sickeningly sweet clichés, and then eventually pretty smutty. In a good way.**

* * *

That night, Virginia changed and re-changed her outfit several times, until there was a huge pile of clothes on the bed like something from a romantic comedy. Everything she put on was either to dressy or too casual and she didn't know what everybody else would be wearing. She'd never been too good at judging that, she remembered turning up to her friend's sixteenth birthday party in something akin to a bright prom dress, in the days before she had contact lenses and she lost her puppy fat; she physically cringed at the memory.

Eventually, she landed on a pair of dark skinny jeans, some brown leather heeled boots and a fairly fitted black cotton shirt that had elbow-length sleeves. When she had shaken out her hair a bit and made sure she had exactly the right balance of relaxed and well dressed, she put her hands on her waist and assessed her reflection, turning from side to side. Newton watched her from the bed, head slightly cocked to the side as she spritzed on some perfume.

"Oh man, don't look at me like that." She sighed. "I'll not be back too late I swear. I'll leave you some treats and a nice bowl of food, and I'll take you on a real long walk tomorrow night, promise." She found out her brown leather jacket from the wardrobe and pulled it on, before heading over to the bed. "Deal?" She raised her eyebrows. Newton's reply was to yawn widely, and rest his head on his legs. Virginia concluded it was probably a good thing she was going out to talk to human beings for once.

There was something incredibly weird about seeing everyone from the office hanging out in a bar together dressed in their normal clothes, it looked like everyone had turned up bar Michael and Stanley. The bar seemed nice, it was quiet save for the chatter and the un-distracting music playing. They were really the only people around, and it had that cosier feel to it rather than a bigger, more stylish place. To her surprise, Andy wasn't standing on his own, Angela was actually with him for once, and the two seemed to be talking in serious hushed tones. Was Angela every anything but serious? She sighed, not wanting to get irritated already, but finding it very difficult not to. Pam and Jim were at the bar already, beers in front of them and chatting, of course Virginia made a beeline over to them, she didn't want to have to try and awkwardly sit with someone she didn't know that well.

"Hi Beesly, Halpert. Excuse me, Mr Bartender." She said, leaning forward.

"Jack." He said, with a slight smile.

"Jack. I would like a rum on ice in the largest receptacle you can find." She said, and he nodded.

"Coming right up. I'll find a vase." He joked back, looking amused.

Virginia grinned as he went to make her drink. He was quite cute actually. He had kind of curly brown hair and a little scruffy stubble, and wore a flannel shirt and jeans. He looked like a proper _dude_, and around Virginia's age. Not like some people she knew who dressed like they lived in a colourful cartoon.

Immediately, she felt guilty that she was having such bitter thoughts just because she'd seen him with his fiancé.

"Wow, strong drink early on." Jim commented, as Jack slipped Virginia her rum and dropped in a little black straw for her. She sent him a bright smile, and sipped her cold drink none-too-slowly.

"It's Friday night Jim. Party hardy." She said cheerily, looking a little giddy as she made quite a dent in her drink, before ordering her next one. Banging on the counter and speaking in a pirate voice as she asked for her rum.

"You're not mad that Angela's here, are you?" Pam asked in that nicely sensitive way.

"What? No. I love Angela." Virginia snorted, spinning the ice around her drink. "Watch." There was nothing Jim or Pam could do as she took the straw out of her drink and downed it like a champ, making a slight groaning noise after, Pam and Jim were pretty amazed she didn't immediately fall over. Without hesitation, she headed over to where Andy and Angela stood, arms open.

"Hey, guys!" She almost shouted in an overly cheery manner. "What's up? I didn't know you were coming Angela." She pulled her small body into an extremely awkward hug. "Looking good, where'd you get the outfit?" She pulled away, eyeing Angela's usually modest clothes that were the same as what she'd been wearing at work. Angela looked stony as usual, but clearly was a little unsure where Virginia was coming from. Andy couldn't deny being a little confused as well, after he had got over how good she looked in her going-out clothes.

"The Mall." Angela replied, shortly.

"Sure, I'm stupid." Virginia said, doing a 'dumb voice'. "Hey Andy, you're unusually quiet. What's going on bro?" She elbowed his side.

Immediately after walking over she completely regretted it, seeing Andy with his arm around Angela was actually painful. Andy laughed nervously, unsure how to deal with tipsy Virginia, and especially in front of Angela. She _did_ look really pretty though, even if she was already getting a little bleary eyed.

Before he could answer, she went on. "You guys don't have drinks, what are you drinking? I'm drinking rum. Lemme get you something."

"We're not." Angela firmly replied, looking disapprovingly at Virginia.

"Well... _You're_ not." Andy said with another awkward laugh. "I might have a _little_ tipple."

Angela did not look impressed, "Good for you, have fun relinquishing control of your inhibitions and acting like a lout." She stiffly walked away to sit at a table by herself.

Virginia made a face, "Sorry, think I might have got you in a little bit of trouble there Andy." She said, although she really wasn't that apologetic.

"Ah, it's okay. She's not really that angry." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Fair enough. Now, what are you drinking tonight?" She said, practically skipping over to the bar.

"I'll have a mimosa, I guess." He said unsurely, sitting on a stool beside her.

"A mimosa? G_irl_." She said with a grin. "Two Bacardi and Coke's please, hold the coke."

"Isn't that little strong?" Andy asked uncertainly, as Jack gave her an approving look and poured their drinks.

"Naaaah," she shook her head, screwing up her nose.

Jack slid them their drinks, and Virginia took a much bigger sip than him. Andy wasn't used to drinking anything stronger than little glasses of sherry at Christmas, so the first sip made him cough a little and his eyes water; Virginia laughed hysterically at this. She was giddier than usual when she drank but not any less sharp and funny. At one point, she took off her jacket and draped it on the stool, and he noticed then that the top she wore showed the shape off her figure better than anything he'd seen her in before. He needed not to notice that, because when he did the urge he got to hold her waist became more apparent. She laughed more than anyone he knew and didn't seem to hesitate in making the odd inappropriate joke; he liked that a lot.

"Eff you! I don't flirt with clients!" She exclaimed defensively.

"You so do!" Andy replied. He had rolled his red sweater sleeves up now and was looking a little tipsy.

"Well, you do a little." Pam chipped in.

"What the hell, Judas?" Virginia shouted, laughing a little.

"I mean, not a _lot,_ just like: Oh! That is so funny, I make all these boring calls all day it's so nice to talk to someone with such a great sense of humour. So, how many reams can I put you down for, sir?" She imitated in a slightly airy tone. Jim nodded along like she was totally right, and Andy smugly grinned in triumph.

"Told ya."

"Damn it, Beesly." Virginia banged her fist on the bar, and took a swig of her beer. "I thought I could trust you."

She leaned forward on the bar, and bottom of her shirt rode up her back a little. Andy noticed and quickly averted his eyes, the imprint of the image her smooth white skin still in his brain.

"Hey! We should do shots!" She sat, tapping Andy's hand excitedly.

"Woah, turns out Virginia's pretty wild." Jim said to Pam, and Virginia chuckled.

"Oh... I dunno." Andy was definitely unsure about this, he glanced back at Angela who was sitting at the same table, purse on her lap and coat still on. Dwight had joined her but they didn't seem to be talking.

"I'm in!" Meredith shouted a little shrilly, practically leaping to Virginia's side.

"Yeah! Can we have several shots of something of a weird please Jack?" Virginia called, a little unsteady on her feet as she leaned forward again on the bar.

"Coming right up, gorgeous." Jack replied with a smile, and Meredith gave her a wink and a nudge in the arm. Andy had a strange, overwhelming urge to punch Jack in the face. He watched Meredith and Virginia throw back their shots easily, and his eyes were then drawn to her pretty neck. Who knew necks could be pretty? Hers was. It occurred to him how bad this was, how much he was noticing the beauty of this girl while his fiancé was sitting a few feet away.

"Your turn, Bernard." She beamed at him. It made his chest ache a little when she smiled at him like that, and he automatically smiled back. He looked over at Angela again, still sat in the same place looking rather annoyed.

"Actually, I'm gonna take a rain check. I think I should be going." He said regretfully. The disappointment was clear on her face, so of course he immediately felt more guilty.

"Oh, okay. Sure." She forced a smile, surprised that she wasn't yet drunk enough not to be bothered by it, "See you later Andy."

"Bye, uh, see you soon." He discretely paid for his and her drinks, said goodbye to Pam and Jim and headed off toward Angela. Virginia saw him leave the door with his hand resting on her lower back. She bit the inside of her mouth hard and turned back to the bar, replacing her grin.

"Hit us again!" She said brightly, knowing that the only solution just then was to get drunker. Pam and Jim decided it was best not to ask if she was okay, and stuck to soda for the rest of the night, as they knew they would probably be the ones driving her home. It turned out she could really knock it back, and by the end of the evening, she was well and truly wasted. Apparently she was one of those people who got extremely giggly and chatty when she was drunk, and occasionally tried to make deep philosophical points about things that didn't make any sense.

Phyllis and Bob went over to say bye before they left.

"Ooh! You're leaving?" Virginia said, leaning on Phyllis a little. "Night Phyllis. Night Bob Vance. Vance Refrigggeration." She slurred, hugging them both. When they both left, she burst out laughing and leaning on the counter. "What the hell kind of name is Refrigeration. Right?" She snorted. Pam and Jim found it funny how much she cracked up. "Hey Jack! You wanna come back to my place?" She winked.

"_Oo_kay." Jim said, hurrying to her side. "Time for you to go home."

"Spoiling my night, Jim." Jack joked. Pam put her arm around Virginia's shoulders and made to usher her out of the room. Jim got her wallet from her jacket and paid off her tab for the night, before slipping it back in the pocket and the two helped Virginia out of the room, standing on either side just so her legs didn't give way, like they looked like they would. She kept making little jokes to Pam and laughing heartily to herself.

They got her in the back seat of the car, where she promptly fell to her side across the other two seats and closed her eyes.

"Are you driving?" Jim asked.

"Yeah I've had less than you." Pam got on the driver's seat and Jim in the passenger's. "Hey, you okay back there?"

"I'm freaking awesome man." She lifted up a devil sign in illustration. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive," she sang in a high voice, "ah ah ah ah, stayin' aliiiiiiive."

"They're actually pretty perfect for each other." Pam said quietly to Jim as she pulled away from the bar. He nodded, looking at Virginia in the rearview mirror as she continued to sing to herself.

"Kind of scary when you think about it." He said and Pam laughed a little.

"Oh lord, I think I'm gonna puke," Virginia groaned, they looked back at her worried as she screwed up her face, "no, I'm fine." She let out a long breath. "Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man, no time to talk."

Pam and Jim got to Virginia's street and Virginia managed to point out her house. They both helped her out, her body felt heavier than usual, and she had got to that state of drunkenness that she felt incredibly tired and her limbs and head felt heavy. Jim got her to put her arm round his back while her other was around Pam's shoulders, and they supported her to the house.

"Guys, why does he like her more than me?" She grumbled, her head hanging as she put her weight on the two. They looked at each other.

"I don't know." Pam replied honestly with sympathy in her voice.

"Am I not pretty? Am I fat, Pam?" She sounded like she was going to cry.

"No, you're beautiful." She assured, fishing Virginia's keys out of her back pocket. "Right Jim?"

"So pretty." He said, in what he hoped sounded comforting.

She lifted her head, smiling wonkily, "Thanks guys, you're both gorgeous too." Eventually, they were in the house and Newton's jumped off the couch and hurried over, claws clicking on the floor as he barked a little at the strangers, Jim jumped a bit, which made Pam laugh.

"Newton, chill, it's me." Virginia bent down to stroke the dog, but it turned out that it was a movement she couldn't handle and the head rush caused her to almost topple forward like a balancing water feature.

"Woah woah," Pam and Jim caught her by the elbows and pulled her upright.

"Okay, bedtime for me I think." She walked across the living room, putting her hands on every piece of furniture she passed. "Pam. Come help me take my jeans off, took a crowbar to get me in these things." She walked toward her bedroom door very ungracefully.

"Uh, I think that's cue for me to wait in the car." Jim said, pointing his thumb at the door.

"I won't be long." Pam said softly, and went to Virginia's bedroom, where she found her laying face down on her bed, horizontally.

"It's making me so sad Pam." She rolled onto her back. "I'm trying to be nice to Angela but I freaking hate Angela. I don't get what he sees in her." She whined, putting her hands on her face.

"I know it's hard. I think maybe Andy doesn't really know what he wants. He can be a little naive." Pam sat on Virginia's bed, knowing exactly how cruddy she felt. "You never know what's going to happen." Virginia slipped under her covers and unzipped her jeans underneath.

"You and Jim are so perfect though." She fell to her side as she shimmied her jeans off her legs.

Pam smiled a little, "Believe it or not. We knew each other for years before we started dating. I was actually engaged."

"No way." Virginia said with genuine surprise. "What happened?"

Pam took Virginia's jeans and folded them.

"I loved Jim, and he loved me. Turns out that cheesy as it sounds, if you really care about someone then it's kind of meant to be, and it'll happen eventually."

Virginia had snuggled in her pillows and was looking at Pam like she was her mother telling her a bedtime story; her eyes were a little watery too.

"That's beautiful Pam." She said quietly, eyes drooping closed. Newton wandered into the room, sniffing round Pam's ankles before jumping up on the bed and nestling in the quilt with his head on Virginia's stomach.

"I'm going now." Pam said quietly. "Goodnight." She set the jeans down on the end of the bed and left, Virginia was sound out, and didn't notice Pam turn off the light, close the bedroom door, and leave the house, locking the door behind her and posting the keys. When Pam got in the car, she gave Jim a long kiss, happy in the knowledge that she wasn't the only one that knew they were perfect.

Throughout the night, Virginia had barely moved from the position she had fallen asleep in and the first thing she noticed when she woke up was the pounding in her forehead, and how she could feel the daylight beating into her eyes. Next came the obvious sick feeling bubbling in her stomach, and she could taste disgusting morning-after alcohol breath. She turned her head in the feathery pillow, and opened her eyes tentatively. The digital clock told her it was 9:46am, and she was just glad she hadn't slept all day. That was the only thing she was glad for that moment, she sat up delicately, unsure if any fast movements would make her be sick, and put her head on her knees. After the physical hangover effects were fully known she began to feel that horrible niggling feeling of regret in the back of her mind. She knew what she was like when she was drunk, and being around Andy probably wouldn't have been the best.

She frowned and thought back to the night before. 'Did I say something embarrassing? Did I get into a fight with someone? Did I make in an inappropriate joke?'

"Ugn, I'll never drink again." She groaned, and eased herself out of bed, realising she still had the shirt from the night before on, but had managed to take off and fold her jeans. She vaguely recalled Pam bringing her into her room, and fished her phone from the pocket of her jeans, frowning when the light of the screen made her head hurt. She opened up a new message and typed to Pam.

**_Thanks for making sure I didn't sleep with anyone or die last night, you're a great friend. Just like to pre-apologise for anything embarrassing/disgraceful I did/said before I remember what it was. x_**

She sent the message and dropped her phone on the bed. More came back to her as she padded over to the bathroom, stretching out her arms as she went. Her reflection didn't make her feel any better, with her makeup smudged around her eyes and her foundation just about gone, probably on the pillow. She squeezed some toothpaste onto her pink brush and vigorously cleaned until that nasty taste was gone. She concluded that she hadn't done anything too bad, other than being embarrassingly loud and a little obnoxious.

Andy had left early. Virginia distinctly remembered him leaving the bar, his arm around Angel's stiff shoulders. Or maybe his hand was on her back. It occurred to her why she had probably drank that much.

After a quick wash and a change of clothes, Virginia started the ritual of getting out the Advil, pouring herself a glass of cold water and holding it against her temple for a bit, and willing herself to eat something. It turned out her will wasn't very strong, and the very thought of food made her want to hurl. She went back to her bedroom and picked up her phone where she had two messages one from Pam, reading:

_**You really weren't that bad, don't worry about it. We had a fun night, can't believe you managed to stay standing as long as you did. x**_

The other message was from Jim, and was a little less supportive.

**_Just saw your text to Pam. You should really be apologising to that guy you killed._**

Virginia laughed and set down her phone, the messages did make her feel a little better but she still was not completely cured. She went back into her living room and was about to settle in for a day of wallowing in self-pity on the couch, when the doorbell rang, making her jump. Newton sprang into action, leaping off the bed and rushing into the living room.

Through the glass door, she saw who had shown up. Andy. She frowned in confusion, undeniably though a little pleased to see him with his yellow sweater and overly well-put-together look in comparison with herself. She could also swear he had a tray of coffees in his hand.

"Newton. Chill." She ruffled her still a little damp hair, suddenly very aware of her grey sweatpants and the old Rush t-shirt she had kept since high school. No makeup either, bar tinted lip balm. 'Well it's not like I'm trying to date him.' She thought, and headed for the front door.

He smiled at her through the glass and she waved and opened the door.

"Hey Andy," she said uncertainly.

"Hi. I thought maybe you could use this." He held out the coffees, which she took, breathing in the smell gratefully. "And I kind of wanted to apologise for kind of running out on you last night." She turned to the kitchen and gestured for him to follow her in.

"No it's fine, don't be silly. I was just looking forward to hanging out with you." She shrugged, playing it off. She took the heavier, untouched drink and sipped it. It was Cappuccino, not too strong, two sugars, just like she liked it. He smiled as he saw her savour the drink. "This is incredibly sweet of you, you didn't have to come round here so early and do this."

"I wasn't sure if it was two sugars or three." He scratched his ear, pretending like he didn't know exactly how she liked it.

"It's two, thank you." She said honestly, there was a little pause in which neither of them really knew what to say, "Feel like watching some early morning cartoons while you're here?" She wasn't too sure what else to suggest. It was hard not to be taken aback by how nice it was of him to bring her coffee because he knew she'd be hung-over. Who does that?

"Sure." Andy replied. He couldn't really say no when she looked at him like that, head cocked to the side and dressed in her lazy clothes. Her hair was a little wet too, and he'd never seen her without immaculate makeup before. He'd never seen a woman who genuinely looked so nice with and without their makeup on, although she did look very different. He distracted himself by picking up his tea and taking a long sip. Newton had been sniffing round his ankles since he came in, and he crouched down and scratched the dog behind the ears.

"He won't bite me will he?" He asked, drawing back his hand a little.

"No, he's all talk." She chuckled. The sight of her dog and Andy in a yellow sweater was probably the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Andy scratched him behind the ears until Newton started nudging his hand when he stopped. "Newton! C'mere." Virginia sat on the couch and tapped her lap. He jumped up on her and curled into a ball. Andy sat down at the other end of the couch, only just noticing what a nice little house she had. It was a bungalow, and clearly she'd done a lot of work on it as her stuff didn't look hugely expensive, the furniture wasn't particularly chic or fancy, but it was very cosy as well as immaculate. Andy sort of wondered what it was like to have to put so much work into having nice things.

The most valuable things in the room looked to be her Xbox, TV, and the huge DVD collection on the shelves that sat against a wall. It was pretty clear that she was kind of a dork and he kind of liked that.

"So, how are you feeling?" He asked as she flicked through the channels.

"Better than I did when I woke up." She sipped her drink with a small smile. "My head still hurts though."

"Yeah you were hitting it pretty hard." He said candidly.

"I didn't do anything too embarrassing did I?" She grimaced a little.

"No. You were funny." He assured her, recalling her giddiness.

"Really? I can be kind of a dick when I have too much to drink." She landed on the Simpsons.

"You're never one of those," he said without meaning to, smiling into his tea, "it was really fun, I wish I could've stayed longer."

Virginia bit her lip, almost asking why he didn't. "Well, I'm glad I didn't embarrass myself too much."

They sat comfortably for a while, watching TV and drinking their drinks. Andy glanced over at her every now and then, smiling gently to herself and stroking her dog's back. 'Dogs are so much better than cats,' he thought as Newton's chin nuzzled Virginia's thigh.

"Do you feel like taking Newton on a walk with me?" She asked boldly, setting the empty cup down on the table beside her and making him realise that he had already been looking at her.

"I would love to." He said without hesitation.

"Okay, let me just get myself looking somewhat presentable, I won't be long." She rushed to her bedroom, deciding to think only about going on a nice walk with her friend and not about any implications.

Andy found himself smiling after her when she went, and decided to take a little snoop around the house. It was all like one big room with the bathroom and bedroom in a mini hallway in one corner, he couldn't really see her living somewhere boxy or stuffy. Around the living room were dotted picture frames of varying sizes, the wall beside the bookshelf devoted to several different photos. He picked out her parents pretty easily, there was a picture of her at her graduation with a tall man with a slight grey beard looking proud with his arm around her, and a shorter woman than even Virginia with the same blonde hair and nose at the other side. They appeared in several other pictures, as well as a man he assumed was her brother on what looked like family holidays. He smiled at the pictures and turned to look at her DVD shelves, each film in alphabetical order and every shelf stacked full. She seemed to have a lot of video games as well, and clearly liked her order.

"Ready?" She had emerged from the bedroom. Obviously, she really didn't need much time to get herself looking 'presentable.' Now in fresh jeans, sneakers and t-shirt, and clearly having spruced up her hair and makeup a bit, he wondered if she ever looked bad. It was weird seeing her in red sneakers though, and how strangely poised she seemed to remain in them.

"Yep," he put his hands in his pockets while she got Newton's lead and hooked it to his collar, "You have a really nice house."

"Oh, thank you. Places are way cheaper in Scranton, I had a tiny apartment in the city." She said as they made their way out of the house, stepping once again out into a nice day. "Mom kept telling me just to go back home." She chuckled. They made off the path to her road and headed down the street.

"You're close to your mom then?" He asked, deciding it was a good opportunity to get to know her better without interruption.

"Very. And my dad though, and my brother even." She said thoughtfully. "I guess we've always been a pretty tight family. My mom didn't even want me to move away from the City, she was the only thing that nearly made me reconsider." She looked up at the very blue sky, surprised by how nice the weather had suddenly become. Newton excitedly walked in zigzags, sniffing the ground and around trees.

"I was wondering how come you decided to come to Scranton. Seems like everybody would rather be in the city." He said inquisitively. She bit the inside of her mouth and looked at the floor; there was really nor harm in telling him, she figured.

"Well I came out of college and looked around for some jobs, worked in a couple of sales positions and ended up at a sort of small electronics company." He nodded and smiled a little as she spoke. "Then I got let go from my job because the company went under," his smile dropped awkwardly, "I found out that my boyfriend of nearly two years was sleeping with someone else, and I decided it was time for a change of scenery." She licked her lips, she knew he was probably a little uncomfortable but she was feeling quite relieved to talk about it. "I was gong to take a job in central Manhattan but someone else got that so Jan offered me one in Scranton, which I thought would be an even better change of scenery, sooo... Here I am." She shrugged, and pulled Newton away from the road he was veering to.

Andy didn't really know what he was supposed to say after that story, so he went with saying what he was thinking.

He looked at her a moment, "Your boyfriend was super dumb." He said simply, sliding his hands into his pockets and going back to looking at the floor. He had no idea how nice it was for her to hear him say that, and she smiled to herself. He was right; her ex-boyfriend was dumb and she'd cried over him for weeks.

"Thanks," she quietly replied, nudging his elbow with hers. They walked quietly and languidly for a while, enjoying the nice day at each other's company.

"You hungry?" Virginia asked. "There's a pretty nice diner round here."

"Sure, if you can stomach it."

"I don't feel as sick now and there's always room for pancakes." She smiled, and continued down the road, him following her to the diner. It was a small place but undoubtedly cute-looking, and Virginia said she only visited it because she could sit at the tables outside with Newton. He insisted on going inside and ordering the food, while she sat herself down at her regular table with Newton curling himself up underneath in the shade. She crossed her legs and took a deep breath in, feeling much better than she had a couple of hours ago. It was weird how nice Andy was being to her; not weird in that she thought it was strange, but weird because she wasn't used to it. People were nice to her usually but not so considerate and _sweet_.

The thought lingering in the back of her mind was of course Angela. If she were her, she might be a little bothered at the idea of her fiance spending the day with another girl and going to breakfast with her, but Angela wasn't really like other women. She didn't seem to care much about anything, even Andy. Virginia sighed, and folded her arms on the table; it was hard not to think about it as much as she didn't want to.

"Our pancakes are on their way." Andy had reappeared and sat himself across from her. "This place is so nice, I never knew it existed."

"Yeah it's cute, I like places where you get a lot for your money too." She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her clean feeling hair, and uncrossed her legs; her knee brushed the side of his leg and of course both of them noticed. There was that fleeting second of awkward eye contact, and Virginia tucked her legs under the chair.

"So, you've heard a little about me. Tell me something about you." She linked her fingers on the table.

He smiled and looked up, thinking. "Uh, I don't know. I grew up in Connecticut with my parents and my little brother Walter. I went to Cornell like my dad. He actually donated a wing." He said flippantly.

"Christ. He donated a wing? Are your parents millionaires?" She laughed, linking her fingers on the table. He didn't laugh or say anything, just made a face that said 'kinda.' "Holy shit, are you serious?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugged a little awkwardly. "We do alright."

"Jeez, now I see why Angela's marrying you." She joked with a chuckle, and Andy laughed a little but didn't really look that amused. Clearly she had touched a nerve. Virginia noticed and immediately felt guilt in her stomach, "I'm sorry. Sometimes I come off a little mean when I'm joking." She chewed the inside of her mouth awkwardly.

"Hey, it's fine, you were only kidding. I guess..." He started, but the black-haired, kindly-faced waitress arrived at their table, impressively balancing their plates on her forearms and holding their drinks.

"Sorry about the wait." She smiled politely.

"No worries." Virginia replied, a little more interested in what Andy had to say as he looked a little more serious now. The woman set down two rather large plates of fluffy pancakes drenched in syrup, with a blob of vanilla ice cream at the side, and two cups of steaming coffee.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked, looking between them.

"No thank you, this looks lovely." Virginia grinned, glad for having her appetite back.

"Just shout me if you need anything." She went back inside the diner, and Virginia picked up her knife and fork, and looked at Andy, who still had a pensive look on his face.

"What were you going to say?" She asked, and cut into her pancakes.

"What?" He broke out of his reverie, looking up at her.

"You said 'I guess...'"

"Oh right," he cut into his own food, "Uh, I guess I sort of wonder sometimes why Angela _is_ marrying me." He did another small shrug as if acting like it was bothering him less than it was. Virginia immediately regretted making the joke; this conversation was obviously going to get deep and she wasn't sure she was the right person to defend Angela's 'love' for him.

She swallowed her mouthful and picked up a sachet of sugar, "Uh, are you sure you want to talk about this with me?" She ripped the sachet and tipped it into her coffee, followed by another.

"Yeah we're friends." He said simply, and Virginia was both a little heartened and a little saddened by his words.

She thought hard about what she was going to say, taking a long breath as she tipped a generous amount of milk into her coffee.

"Well, she must be marrying you for a reason. She obviously knows you're awesome and I guess she's just not one of those people who's good at showing it." She said delicately. This was not advice she wanted to give. For one thing, she had a crush on the guy and what she really wanted to say was, 'yeah, you should dump her,' and for another she couldn't really think of much nice to say about Angela. There was also the fact that she didn't actually know their relationship that well, and what she _did_ know about it wasn't good.

"You're right," he smiled a little.

Virginia asked a question that was on her mind, and she hoped it didn't sound as harsh as it kind of was.

"Why are you marrying Angela?" She asked in such a tone that suggested genuine interest rather than disdain or ridicule, sipping her coffee.

He seemed a little hard pushed for words for a moment. "I love her." He replied. Virginia would have been a little upset if he weren't so unconvincing.


End file.
